DURING the Second World War and for some time afterwards, as far as the public at large were informed, the exact location of the deployment of HM forces was restricted to 'Field PO' references.

For example, BAOR 4 indicated 'somewhere in Germany' (British Army of the Rhine), likewise MELF 8 referred to Middle East Land Forces etc.

As a mere National Service conscript (1947 - 3rd PARA) and learning about warfare, I was taught that "the best means of defence is attack and that the prime element of attack is surprise".

This tenet is proven and borne out by records of brave and daring raids carried out on the 'enemy' by sections of the armed forces and in more recent times when dealing with terrorists.

Such operations were covered by Government 'D' notices, which were issued by the MOD forbidding the publication of any details whatsoever prior to the operations being executed.

The great majority of the missions were highly successful due, no doubt, to the fact that a 'D' notice preserved secrecy and prevented the unnecessary loss of many lives.

It appears ludicrous to me that in modern times the Government allows the media in general to warn the 'enemy' of impending action against them, in many cases, months in advance.

The operation to 'seek out and destroy all Al Qaeda terrorists' was a complete military disaster. Why? Not only was the media allowed to advise the 'enemy' that we were about to deploy some of our most highly trained fighting forces against them but pinpointed exactly what regions they would operate in and furthermore, precisely what each man would be carrying right down to his last round of ammunition and last biscuit of his food rations.

Is it any wonder that not one terrorist was sighted? Our troops were left frustrated and completely bewildered.

An exercise in the Brecon Beacons would have done them more good both physically and mentally. Worse of all, some of our finest soldiers were humiliated by the 'enemy'. From start to finish, the whole operation was a total waste of taxpayers' money. The media do not deserve to take the blame for such a fiasco.

The government has failed to learn a valuable lesson from all the glaring mistakes that were made. An even larger disaster is now looming.

Saddam Hussein has been given months and months of notice to bring forward a programme to develop weapons of mass destruction and indeed to adopt a different ploy altogether.

We have told him that 250,000 troops will be deployed against him and perhaps, a force of 50,000 will head straight for Baghdad to 'flush him out'.

As with the Al Qaeda, what naivety to expect him to wait and be captured or killed.

One wonders what the outcome of the Iranian Embassy siege would have been if the terrorists had been advised that members of the SAS were on their way?

Other countries have elite forces that deal with the 'enemy' very successfully without giving due notice of any impending action.

What did happen to D notices?

K S A Morgan, Stone Drive, Colwall.